CENTRAL TIME
Curious. Caring. Classic.
Spartanburg's First Church, Founded 1837

We welcome everyone to join in worship
through our live stream Sunday mornings
at 9:00 am on the church's Facebook page.
You can also find the service at a later time
on the church's website. 
PEACE Part II

The Servant Leader by Tom Norrell

8) Support politicians who will work to alleviate human suffering and who will seek to bring about racial, gender, and economic equality.

9) Spend time and money on children and teenagers. It is during this time that they decide whether they are loved or not and whether there is some fairness in our world.

10) Do your civic duty. Vote. Don't avoid jury duty. Join neighborhood watch. Volunteer for the fire department, Red Cross or other group that builds your neighborhood.

You can, no doubt, supplement these 10 suggestions for peacemaking with many better suggestions. Let me leave you with the closing paragraph of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's prayer he offered on D-Day, 1944:

With thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies, lead us to the saving of our country, and with sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace - a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.


Upper Room
Copies of the September/October issue of the Upper Room are now available in the church office and on Sunday mornings in worship. 
Please contact the church office if you would like an issue mailed to you.
Order of Worship for
Sunday, September 6
14th Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary:
Exodus 3:1-15; Gospel of Matthew 21-28

Paige M. Wolfe, Liturgist Tom Norrell, Preacher


Greeting and Announcements
Prelude
Introit

Call to Worship:
Minister: This is the day that the Lord has made.
People: We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Minister: This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh.
People: And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
 
Opening Prayer

Confession of Faith:

We believe in the one God, creator and sustainer of all things, the source of all goodness and beauty, all truth and love.

We believe in Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, our teacher, example, and Redeemer, the Savior of the world. 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, God present with us for guidance, for comfort, and for strength.
We believe in the forgiveness of sins, in the life of love and prayer, and in grace equal to every need.

We believe in the Word of God found in the scripture, tradition, reason and experience.

We believe in the church, we who are united in the living Lord for the purpose of worship and service.

We believe in the reign of God as the divine will realized in human society, and in the family of God, where we are all brothers and sisters. 

We believe in the final triumph of righteousness and in the life everlasting. Amen. 

 
Old Testament Lesson: Exodus 3:1-15
*Gospel Lesson: Matthew 16:21-28

Pastoral Prayer: The Lord's Prayer

Anthem: Duet: Gracious Spirit Dwell with Me arr. K. Lee Scott
Sarah Monroe, alto and Kevin Arnold, tenor

              
Sermon: Vocation or Work by Tom Norrell, Pastor
 
Response to the Word:
God of Labor and of Love, we confess we have not always made relationship with you the first priority in our lives. Nor have we glorified you in all things, but considered our spirituality separate from the rest of life, something we do on Sunday and in certain other religious practices. We prepare ourselves for the doing of work as a job, rather than a vocation in which we serve and glorify you through every life attitude and activity. We confess that we tend to judge the success of our work by the money we make. We also, so easily allow job expectations to become tyrannical in our lives, as though the job owned us. We sometimes get so caught up in our work that we become deaf to the other calls in our lives, those of family, of friends, of church, or neighbors, and of strangers who need our time and our attention. Forgive us all, we pray, and restore us to right relationship with you, that we may be free to work again at right relationships with one another. Amen.

Benediction
Choral Response
Postlude: Brian Dailey, pianist  


*Please stand for the reading of the Gospel.
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Sunday Mornings at 10:30
You are invited to join the Upper Room Sunday school class on
Sunday mornings at 10:30 AM on Zoom. If you want to join, click
the link below and enter the meeting ID and password!


Meeting ID: 815 9104 7549
Password: 778963
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Meditation in Central Park
Join John Simmons at 5:00 PM on Sundays in Central Park for a time of meditation and mindfulness activity designed to deal with stress. There is room to practice social distancing. John is certified as a Mind Body Skills Trainer by the Center for Mind Body Medicine in Washington DC. In the past 12 years, John has led dozens of workshops using mindfulness to help cancer patients, patients with chronic pain, patients with post traumatic stress disease and people with varying degrees of anxiety and mild to moderate depression. There will be no fee and no meditation experience is required. The experience will be open to anyone.
Handbell Choir
Central's handbell choir, the Carillon, will start rehearsals again on Wednesday, September 9 at the usual time - 6:20 PM. Tables have been set up so that each ringer will be at least six feet away from every other ringer, and wonderful music is already waiting in the folder.

Handbell folks are already used to wearing gloves, so now we'll add masks to our equipment! Please wear your personal mask to rehearsal. If anyone has questions about rehearsal times or handbell ringing in general, please call Al Jeter at 585-7308.

Children’s Ministry -
Faithful Families at Home

Central works to resource parents with tools to incorporate Christian education and faith formation into your life. During the fall, we invite Central children and their families to try activities from Traci Smith's "Faithful Families at Home." Central’s youngest members will receive a copy of this in the mail in September. 
Contact Paige if you would like a copy or if you know of someone else who will enjoy this helpful book.
 
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COVID-19 Office Hours
Monday-Wednesday: 9:00 AM-Noon
Friday: 9:00 AM-Noon
Telephone (864) 582-7263  Fax 582-6944
Tom Norrell, Senior Pastor (864) 384-2779
Paige M. Wolfe, Minister of Christian Ed. and Programs  (864) 710-7363

Due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, we will continue worshipping outdoors at 9:00 AM. We will worship between the parking garage and the Education Building around the portico. Chairs are provided but please feel free to bring your own.

*Please Note:
The Church Office will be closed on Labor Day, Monday, September 7.

*There will not be an E-newsletter during the week of September 7-11.

*Charge Conference is scheduled for September 29, 2020.
Our Giving
What are the offerings we present to Central Church? Are they dues? No.
Central is not a club, and we do not have membership fees.
Is the donation a charitable contribution, i.e. a tax deduction? According to the Internal Revenue Service, it might be. But a church offering is more than something which reduces our taxes.
Is the offering a tip for the pastor for a sermon well-preached or the music director for an excellent anthem? No. Not at all.
Is your offering the fulfillment of a pledge? Yes. But it's more than that.
Let's consider some deeper, truer motivations for our offerings:
  • Expressions of gratitude to God.
  • Participation in Christ's ministries.
  • Our obligations as people who have been blessed. "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required." (Luke 12:48)
  • Acts of compassion for a hurting world.
  • Our fair share of the church's responsibilities.
  • A demonstration of solidarity with Christ and his Church.

SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS


 
2- Betsy Bragg, Monnie Cannon
3- Bob Monson
5- Elaine Cabaniss, Emily Rawlinson
6- Sarah Harrelson, Jack Lawrence, Edith Rowell, Molly Wilkes
7- Doris Greene, Jack Williams
9- John Harrelson
10- Sheri Johnson, Kevin Parris
12- Deb Morrow
13- Erin Hurlbert
16- Joy Spencer
17- Robby Crocker, Julie DiMarco, Clelon Milner
19- Geneva Aycock, Helen Sloan
21- Thomas Diangikes
26- Sue Lowe
27- Rosa Senn


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Oops!
Pat Patterson's name was inadvertently left out of the August birthday list. His birthday was August 22. Happy belated birthday, Pat!!!




 
MEMORIALS August 30, 2020

To Michael Hemmer by John & Carol Reeves

To Drew Lands by Kara Bui & Joel Atance, Jim & Martha Badger, Myrna Bundy, Marvin & Kathy Cann, Don & Joyce Coggins, Andy & Elaine Crosland, Sid & Pat Franklin, Jim & Pat Hasty, Mitch & Carol Kyllonen, Paul & Sue Lansberry, Barbara Latham, Jack & Kay Lawrence, Dan & Kit Maultsby, Jennie Montgomery, Bill & Betty Monroe, Dwight Patterson, John & Kathy Quackenbush, Phil & Fran Racine, Richard & Bertice Robinson, Upper Room Classroom, Nancy Welch, Tom & Molly Wilkes, Paul & Kay Wood

To Allison Ratterree by John & Carol Reeves

To Faye Smith by John & Carol Reeves, Charles & Benita Stavely, & Upper Room Class

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Thank you
from Jane Ratterree

Thank you for all the ways you showed to John and me you care during the recent weeks following the loss of both my daughter-in-law and sister. Your prayers brought comfort and strength as we get accustomed to their absence. Thank you for sharing your love.
Central Time September 2, 2020
Curious. Caring. Classic.
Spartanburg's First Church, Founded 1837
Please text “Central” to
(864) 661- 4726 if you would like to
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